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Wantabee Real estate Photographer

08-21-2009, 01:17 PM

New here, but I kept seeing Nodal ninja everywhere and this looks like the ticket for panoheads. Any Real estate Photographers here? I have a 20D which I would like to use. Right now I have the kit lens (18-55),but plan on getting a better one later on. But I am limited in funds as I lost my job last Jan. So I need to prioritize. The NN 3 with RD8 rotator head looks like the best deal. Plus i was thinking of getting PTGUI which seems to be the best for the money software.
I plan on shooting vertically, so do I need a special mount for the NN3, or does the camera just screw onto it?
So far I&#039;m not getting a lot of responses to my calls for Real Estate Photography here in MA, but I&#039;m hoping that will change, so I need to practice, plus I&#039;ve been experimenting with HDR also using Photomatix, but I&#039;ve heard HDR Photostudio,gives better more natural looking results, but one thing at a time.
Anyway what do you think of my choices and If you have any advice or info, please let me know. Thanks

New here, but I kept seeing Nodal ninja everywhere and this looks like the ticket for panoheads. Any Real estate Photographers here? I have a 20D which I would like to use. Right now I have the kit lens (18-55),but plan on getting a better one later on. But I am limited in funds as I lost my job last Jan. So I need to prioritize. The NN 3 with RD8 rotator head looks like the best deal. Plus i was thinking of getting PTGUI which seems to be the best for the money software.
I plan on shooting vertically, so do I need a special mount for the NN3, or does the camera just screw onto it?
So far I&#039;m not getting a lot of responses to my calls for Real Estate Photography here in MA, but I&#039;m hoping that will change, so I need to practice, plus I&#039;ve been experimenting with HDR also using Photomatix, but I&#039;ve heard HDR Photostudio,gives better more natural looking results, but one thing at a time.
Anyway what do you think of my choices and If you have any advice or info, please let me know. Thanks

For your lens
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Min. shots (1.6x): N, 10 images every 36¬? at -45¬? pitch, 10 images every 36¬? at 0¬? pitch, 10 images every 36¬? at +45¬? pitch, Z, where N is nadir or down shot, Z is Zenith or up shot.
You need 32 shots for a spherical pano. If you are limited in fund, try to get a 0.5x wide converter. It will reduce the number of shots to 18.
N, 8 images every 45¬? at -30¬? pitch, 8 images every 45¬? at +30¬? pitch, Z
If finance allows, get a 8mm fisheye or 10 mm fisheye. This one is cheap.http://tinyurl.com/nrzfwx
You can get settings for more lens herehttp://vrwave.com/
NN3 RD8 works for you without any addon accessory.

Comment

This looks like the Samyang 8mm lens, which is being sold under a number of different labels. See review by Michel Thoby here: http://tinyurl.com/n2hqna.

It seems like a great lens, and yes, like lots of Samyang (S. Korea) lenses, it is sold under different brand names in various countries (Bower, Rokinon, Samyang, Vivitar, Polar). One thing that seems to be unusual about this lens is doesn&#039;t appear to be a "classic" circular fisheye 8mm like the Sigma 8mm, even with the sunsheild trimmed off. I don&#039;t know if this prevents it from covering a spherical panorama in the typical "Sigma 8mm @ 4 shots around" on an APS-C sensor dslr (like the 20D) or not.

Comment

The Samyang 8mm is a fullframe image on APS-C sensors (for which it is designed). It&#039;s therefore more like the Nikkor 10.5mm but with a slightly wider fov. On a Canon 40D, the horizontal fov in portrait orientation should be about 98 degrees. So 4 around would be just possible, though with a not very adequate overlap of about 10%.

John

Comment

The Samyang 8mm is a fullframe image on APS-C sensors (for which it is designed). It&#039;s therefore more like the Nikkor 10.5mm but with a slightly wider fov. On a Canon 40D, the horizontal fov in portrait orientation should be about 98 degrees. So 4 around would be just possible, though with a not very adequate overlap of about 10%.

But 4 around would also leave a big hole at the zenith as well as the nadir, right? Since it is 180 deg. from corner-to-corner, not 180 deg from edge-to-edge like a circular fisheye. I used to shoot with a Sigma 8mm and a 20D and didn&#039;t need a zenith shot, and even did a bunch of "tilted" 3-around panos without zenith shots, which are perfect for the "get it done fast and get out" world of real estate panos.

So if this new Samyang (etc.) fisheye is basically full-frame and cheap, my recommendation to the OP is to instead look at a decent full-frame zoom like the Tokina 10-17 for quality, versatility for non-pano interior shots, and (given the business) resale.

Comment

Why the nadir and upshot ? I was just wondering since you shoot vertical anyway? Maybe 10 - 12 shots around should be plenty shouldn&#039;t it? If you had to do up and down shots, how many would you need to take?